Can you tell us about some of the music used in commercials?

I was wondering where and who I can inquire about commercial soundtracks. For example, the nice jazz for the Infiniti car commercials or the beautiful operatic piece on the original Bellagio hotel commercial.

-- Mimster, the net

Matthew, please, Matthew:

Please, PLEASE tell me who the women are who sing the music in the TV ad for the Audi that has the bride and groom in it. It's weird and beautiful!

-- MusicMary, the net

If the two of you are rich boomers, then the advertising has hit its mark. Prime examples of why audio subtleties may be more important than the words or pictures. The Bellagio script could have said, "Hey, we're elegant! We're continental! We're romantic!" But tenor Andrea Bocelli communicates that image more strongly and subtly when he croons "Con Te Partiro," an Italian love song, a smashola on the European pop charts. It's available here on one of his CDs, renamed "Time to Say Goodbye," with Sarah Brightman. Or bring down the ambiance several notches with Donna Summer's dance-club version ("I Will Go With You").

Infiniti wants you to imagine rolling free down the open road in one of their smooth-riding, sophisticated cars -- fresh air, sunshine, no potholes, no traffic, no kids whining that they have to pee. Buy an Infiniti and your life's theme song will be the Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Take Five," a West Coast "cool school" jazz hit from the '60s, anchored by the suave, satiny sax of Paul Desmond. You can probably find it on a reissue CD.

And the otherworldly voices that accompany the bride and groom gamboling toward their Audi? The other world they come from is passionate, romantic Bulgaria. The women are Le Mystérè de Voix Bulgares, now called the Bulgarian Female Vocal Choir. Their recordings are widely available here. The love song in question is "Polegnala e Todora." They've also recorded with Huun-Huur Tu, the Throat Singers of Tuva (Siberia/Mongolia). The Tuvans' nasal vibrato may be heard in the current back-to-school-spinning-teens commercials for Mervyn's.

If a commercial theme has caught your imagination, there's no central source to identify it. Check the company's website, or call them directly. They'll be thrilled you noticed.